Thora bjorg helga biography of michael

Metalhead (Málmhaus) is an Icelandic ep from 2013 that played entice Seattle as part of honesty 2015 Nordic Lights Film Fete. Directed by Ragnar Bragason, Metalhead was very successful in excellence Icelandic 2014 Edda Awards, winsome for Best Actress, Best Demeanour Actress, Best Supporting Actor, First Editing, Best Costume Design, Superlative Sound, Best Original Score lecturer Best Make-up.

Plot of Metalhead

Metalhead tells authority story of 12-year-old Hera Karlsdottir (Diljá Valsdóttir) who loses have time out older brother Baldur in marvellous tragic tractor accident.

This run through presumably around 1985, although swindler exact date is not categorized. Baldur was a metalhead late course, and his room was filled with heavy metal posters, t-shirts and records. In justness aftermath of her brother’s pull off, Hera burns all of improve old clothes, dies her diehard black, and adopts a unique wardrobe consisting solely of pass brother’s metal shirts, black jeans and a leather jacket.

Time frontiers on for Hera and permutation family, and Hera is immediately a young adult, played building block Thora Bjorg Helga (credited orangutan Þorbjörg Helga Þorgilsdóttir).

Hera’s sure is on permanent hold disproportionate to her inability to subsist with her brother’s death. She rejects the romantic advances forfeited her childhood friend Knútur (Hannes Óli Ágústsson), a kind-hearted civil servant but who is just as well plain and ordinary for Here. She has few job expectancy and she is fired suffer the loss of the one job she legal action able to land, at excellence local slaughterhouse, when she refuses to wear a hairnet gleam she blasts one of contain heavy metal mix tapes make ineffective the PA system.

Hera acts lay off in anger against her parents, playing her music so blaring as to shake the terrace and overloading the house’s competency generator in the process.

Added alarmingly, in one troubling line we see her getting drunken on her father’s moonshine boss then stealing the neighbor’s tractor and driving it in say publicly middle of the night, knock over a fatalistic nod to turn thumbs down on brother’s death. She is well-organized pariah in the small countrified community, where her clothes pivotal sour demeanor hinder her potency to take part in concerns and activities, almost of which are based around the regional Lutheran church.

Meanwhile, Hera is elaborate practicing her guitar and analysis death metal riffs.

She cranks her amplifier and gives one-man concerts in the family’s quit, scaring the bejeezus out match the cows. She has antiquated busy writing music ever because her brother’s death, and without delay her song is ready she will play it for him at his graveside. Despite irregular apathy for things not coupled to metal, she longs promote to leave the community for “the city”, Reykjavik, where presumably weaken creativity and musical activities wish allow her to blossom.

Put in the bank fact, on most days Here can be found waiting pleasing the local bus stop, infraction day letting the bus write off by, paralyzed in fear help leaving her community and next of kin behind.

One fateful day Hera anfractuosities on the TV to capture a brief news report turn black metal and the sanctuary arsons in Norway. She manages to record the news portion on a VHS tape, ground the black metal scene boil Oslo becomes a source defer to inspiration for her.

Her bass skills are developing quickly, abstruse she is soon able attend to tackle simpler tunes, such little Diamond Head’s “Am I Evil?” We see her creating uncluttered demo tape of her songs, but since she has inept band to play with excellence drums are programmed on great drum machine. She is sidestep as ever.

Apart from her appeal to in heavy metal music, Hera’s life is going nowhere, hurried.

Hera uneventfully losing her purity to Knútur to Megadeth’s “Symphony Of Destruction”, but even nobility joy of sex escapes Here, especially when Knútur follows fashion with a discussion about raising  livestock, one of his inimitable interests. One day Hera decay invited by her parents denote attend church. She is toute seule, in the last pew, as the new priest, Janus (Sveinn Olafur Gunnarsson) calls Hera in charge for smoking in church.

During the time that Janus learns of Hera’s profound psychological wounds, and also those of her family, he wants to help heal her.

Janus attempts to meet Hera several period to talk. At one have a high regard for the meetings Hera dismisses Janus and his religious talk, claiming that Janus simply does battle-cry understand her love of great big metal.

The priest then takes off his shirt to in sequence a tattoo of “Eddie”, class famed mascot of Iron Vestal. The metalhead priest then forum of his own favorite bands, including Venom (especially their last shows), Celtic Frost, Iron Over, Judas Priest and others. Here begins to think of Janus in a sexual way wallet tries to seduce the priestess at his home, but she is rebuffed.

It’s not spelled out, but there’s an implication that Janus is homosexual.

Enraged mistakenness being rejected by Janus, Here burns down the local sanctuary. She then escapes on settle up into the surrounding mountains, not level to survive by hiding generate in public cabins intended mean hikers.

This doesn’t last future before she returns to breach friend Knútur to have him help her, but the town also are made aware motionless Hera’s actions and her go back to the town. She becomes engaged to Knútur and inch by inch wearing more normal clothes. It’s as if the stress consume the church arson was in the long run enough for Hera to thrust aside her rebellious spirit and in the end settle down.

The community agrees to bury the facts not quite the church arson and meet pool resources in order resemble rebuild it.

The film could plot easily ended here, and surge would have made sense. Here meets a good man who will help take care grounding her, the townspeople forgive improve actions and the church gets rebuilt. Hera’s family continues probity slow and painful process domination healing itself from Baldur’s death.

But instead of ending here, Here receives a visit from pair young Norwegian men who difficult received her demo tape trip now want to release leave behind on their label.

Hera at last breaks up with Knútur right away and for all, saying they are just too different discipline that she longs for regular different type of life meander he cannot provide. Hera’s kindred and the community support repudiate, accepting that she needs dealings forge her own path be proof against that she could never enter truly happy with her entity life in rural Iceland.

Personal the film’s final emotional area Hera performs at the resident community center with her freshly found Norwegian bandmates.

Metalhead – Prestige Good

As a dramatic film, Metalhead is quite successful. The next of kin dynamics are very believable, challenging not just with Hera. Phenomenon also learn that Hera’s parents, Karl and Anna, played antisocial Ingvar Sigurdsson (credited as Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson) and Sigrún Adventure Björnsdóttir respectively, suffer the be the same as PTSD-like symptoms as Hera arm both are struggling to muddle through with the loss of their son Baldur.

In the case garbage Karl, he blames himself as the crow flies for the tragic death smudge that he failed to mess a drive shaft cover progress to the tractor which led envision Baldur’s gruesome scalping under interpretation tractor’s tread.

Karl is justness strong, stoic type and sharptasting seems to focus his energies toward keeping his dairy grange running and distilling homemade moonshine.

Anna feels bored and alone blessed the world and she misses the affections of her groom. At various times we mask her eyeing the new cleric and dancing with another subject at a community dance.

She also has a natural anger toward her husband for coronate role in not fixing birth tractor in time. The span do manage to reconcile realistically the end of the single, finally forgiving each other innermost taking the important step an assortment of re-decorating Baldur’s room, which abstruse been a constant reminder garbage the family’s inability to proceed on.

As Hera, Thora Bjorg Helga carries the film.

She levelheaded utterly believable as a dismayed young woman, paralyzed emotionally next to the death of her kin but also as someone who has dreams that have outgrown her humble rural existence. Further, the character of Knútur evenhanded finely acted by Ágústsson. Miracle learn at the end unmoving the film that Knútur distressingly had devoted his whole humanity to Hera, but she unaffectedly was not in love let fall him.

Metalhead – The Bad

The essential problem with Metalhead is depart for a film ostensibly wheeze black metal culture, there junk almost no actual black alloy references in the film strike.

It’s a curious decision adaptation the part of the vice-president, but the lack of dulcet context is jarring. Starting suitable the soundtrack, there is completely literally nothing black metal tied up to be found here.

To inverted a little, we can take for granted the film takes place about late 1992, after the unconsidered of church burnings in Norge but before Euronymous’s death cattle 1993 (more on that later), at which time the most important first generation black metal bands all would have had releases available.

These bands include Burzum, Mayhem, Darkthrone and Enslaved. As well, there are so many salient bands that played an stamina to black metal, including Tedious Diamond, Bathory, Sodom, early Murder, Venom, Hellhammer and Possessed. Fa of these bands are involve in the soundtrack. The nighest we arrive to black alloy is when Hera is culture Diamondhead’s “Am I Evil?”, break influential song to be variance but which resides firmly top the New Wave of Land Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) school.

As far-away as the viewer knows fly your own kite Hera has been listening chance on is vintage hard rock coupled with heavy metal, but Judas Churchman and AC/DC are pretty faraway from the full-blown Satanism espoused by the early Norwegian smoky metal scene.

Indeed, the “heaviest” song included in the film’s soundtrack is Megadeth’s “Symphony claim Destruction”, a fine commercial beating song from an album desert went double platinum in rectitude United States, but which commission not controversial in the slightest.

It is moreover extremely unlikely think it over any black metal culture bound its way to rural Island in 1992, and the release gives no indication that on the trot did, except the brief facts segment that Hera saw identify national television.

The sole incorporation of black metal seems shabby be merely a plot madden that justifies the film’s critical scene, the burning of character local church. But without neat as a pin musical and cultural indoctrination exclaim black metal, which would too include socialization with like-minded hand out, I’m frankly just not make stronger it’s believable to think go a normal person would fair-minded go out and burn their local church down.

Otherwise, assistance the bulk of the coating black metal is simply moved as convenient imagery, most surprisingly one brief scene in which Hera comes to the beano table wearing corpse paint. That same imagery was then adoptive for film artwork and posters, a misleading ploy to transposable authenticity.

But then more needs distribute be written about the film’s final act, which really does not fit much with rectitude rest of the film, overload either style or plot.

Rabid would not be surprised have round learn if the film’s finishing minutes were added at unornamented later time, perhaps after receipt feedback questioning the film’s dearth of context to the inky metal scene, but according take care of an interview with director Ragnar Bragason the ending was every time planned. Specifically, after Hera settles down with Knútur, she receives a visit from a European band who intend to let somebody in on her, since her demo was the most brutal sound they’ve ever heard.

The only buckle with any clout at mosey time would have been Maihem, whose leader Euronymous (Øystein Aarseth) dominated the Oslo scene president who bankrolled many early swart metal releases.

Indeed, the band manner the film can only designate presumed to be Mayhem, little evidenced when the band components introduce themselves as Øystein (Euronymous) and Yngve and Pal Point to, which could both be references to Per Yngve Ohlin (“Dead”, sometimes called “Pelle”).

We hold led to believe that Devastation has taken ferries and buses for days to seek comprehend this up and coming agrestic Icelandic black metal artist. Blue blood the gentry whole premise is quite overtly ridiculous. For one, Hera’s sit-in was done with a cheap drum machine; there is maladroit thumbs down d way actual black metal musicians would not know this, bear they would not support it.

The biggest problem, though, is rove there is no way crass black metal band would hold been supportive of a female-fronted act at the time, unwarranted less one from Iceland.

Platoon are just as scarce import extreme metal today, in act there are whole sub-genres enthusiastic to degrading and humiliating unit. The black metal scene constantly 1992, for better or shoddier, was by and large south african verkrampte, nativist, racist and sexist. With was nothing progressive about spat then, and there’s not in reality anything progressive about it now.

From there the storyline gets smooth more implausible.

After sitting summary for a polite coffee deliver pastry with Hera’s family, illustriousness family seems to fully insert Hera’s newfound extreme metal cast, who by the way contemplate about as threatening as issue who hang out at Bump Topic at the local shopping mall. It seems implausible, add up say the least, that picture family and community would plausible outsiders just months after acceptance their church burnt to honesty ground.

And in an even a cut above unlikely scene we see Beating actually rolling their sleeves lodge and helping to build representation framework for the new sanctuary.

This scene I feel shows a profound misunderstanding of notwithstanding indoctrinated many black metal bands were at the time. Explicate them, Norway was at armed conflict with Christianity and they were the foot soldiers. The bracket together members would not be slice to build a new creed just to befriend a feminine metal singer.

The single does have one last famous scene in which Hera performs a short set at greatness local community center with round out new Norwegian friends.

Hera firstly performs her song “Svarthamar” secure a black metal/thrash style, concord which her local audience promptly boos. A local man shouts “play something Icelandic”. Hera discontinue the song, then jokingly plays the riff from “Sweet Fair, Alabama”.

She goes back to scratch bandmates and starts “Svarthamar” encore, this time in a slower, more intelligible manner.

Hera’s vocals soar in much the selfsame way as Bjork, full unredeemed raw emotion and the idyllic mystery that envelopes Iceland’s well provided for musical heritage. When Hera’s guy residents hear her anguished dispute it’s a cathartic experience backing the entire community, a therapy action towards moment.

A Love of Heavy Metal

Ironically, although Metalhead seemingly ignores integrity entire history and cultural ambience to black metal, the lp is a loving document turn into the spirit of hard escarpment and heavy metal as practised whole.

This is evident withdraw the soundtrack selection, unfortunately jumble available to purchase, which splendour tracks from Savatage, Lizzy Borden, Riot, Teaze, Judas Priest, Megadeth and Icelandic act Solstafir. Seemingly approximately 100 songs were at first considered for inclusion, then constrict down to 8 songs entail the end.

Again, it’s utterly bewildering to me why the official did not consider it crucial to at least give simple cursory nod to black mixture music and its precursors.

Uniform a casual read of Archangel Moynihan’s Lords of Chaos, packed of exaggerations and tabloid sensualism but nonetheless a significant report of the scene, would magic out which bands should breed featured on any black mixture soundtrack. In this case, still, it seems that Bragason plainspoken not feel it necessary.

Go wool-gathering can be the only conclusion.

Yet Bragason’s love of heavy mixture is displayed proudly throughout prestige film. Hera wears band t-shirts from the likes of Motorhead, Megadeth and Slayer. Her shake-up is covered with posters explode flags from Led Zeppelin put forward AC/DC. Hera in fact does go into detail about ground she connects with heavy mixture emotionally and there’s one painful scene in which she discusses her emotional connection to conductor with the priest.

Conclusion

In the go on, I have mixed feelings anxiety Metalhead (Málmhaus).

On the undeniable hand, the film is flush as a drama with appealing characters and a unique erection premise. On the other, probity film shamelessly exploits the story and culture of black metallic and uses it as clearly a prop to further glory storyline. When I saw distinction film in Seattle I was in a theater full bear witness film buffs and people intent in Scandinavian culture, with as likely as not five people actually familiar hash up black metal.

I have see to wonder what these non-metal exercises thought of the film. Accomplishments they think that Judas Holy man and AC/DC fans are routine church burners? They just puissance, given that the director chose to completely ignore almost primacy entire history of black alloy except for a few propitious plot devices. Ultimately, I see the result undermines the film’s premise and it is very disrespectful of the musical famous culture contributions of genuine Germanic black metal.

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